Do you fill your pot?

[JVO]

After cleaning and vacuuming the fire pot, do you put some pellets back in there to prime it or does it do that sufficiently during start-up?

 

[Timmy]

Some ppl do some don't. I believe the manual says to put 5 to 10 pellets in the firepot after cleaning.

 

[RemE]

I never have, seems to start up just fine from empty pot.

 

[Timmy]

I've done it both ways, really didn't make a difference unless it's really cold, like 5f outside.

 

[John S.]

I don’t load anything, I vacuum the pot when I vacuum the grill . The auger just loads it up on the next cook.

 

[Murphy's Law]

I don’t. I’ll clear the auger, vacuum everything and then prime right before my cook.

I usually do this after every cook, which is overkill but it only takes a few mins.

 

[Slimpicker]

Fill my pot with what???? I usually remove the seeds but that's about it.

 

[RoadRunner18]

After the initial prime of the auger, I never added pellets to the fire pot. I would just start the grill, set the target temperature, and the auger would supply pellets to the fire pot

 

[Switz]

After the initial burn, I emptied the burner pot and vacuumed everywhere. For the first cook, I tried to start after filling the pellet hopper. It failed with an error message that pellets did not get there in time. I went through the D2 menu and saw a prime the auger choice. It took three minuets on the timer display to count down to fill the auger and pot. Now I hit the ignite button and I think it filled the pot again because when it ignited the smoke was too thick to see though...

During the cook, I could smell smoke but never saw any coming out of the chimney..

 

[RemE]

After the initial burn, I emptied the burner pot and vacuumed everywhere. For the first cook, I tried to start after filling the pellet hopper. It failed with an error message that pellets did not get there in time. I went through the D2 menu and saw a prime the auger choice. It took three minuets on the timer display to count down to fill the auger and pot. Now I hit the ignite button and I think it filled the pot again because when it ignited the smoke was too thick to see though...

During the cook, I could smell smoke but never saw any coming out of the chimney..

The auger must always be full. The firepot however does not. When you press ignite, a small number of pellets are fed to the pot for ignition.

Once up and running, the amount of visible smoke is based on the set temperature and the pellet blend.

Higher temps = less smoke, especially over 250F

Oak, Hickory, Mesquite tend to smoke more.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I put back in what's in there before I vacuum it out but it sounds like it doesn't matter one way or the other.

 

[Slimpicker]

I vacuum the pot out dry... some in the tube fall in and get sucked up... I don't do nothing else but hit the IGNITE button

 

[Switz]

From the Traeger menu on the grill, I run the Auger unjam selection and it empties the auger tube into the fire pot. Looks like about a cup of pellets that get sucked out by the vacuum leaving no pellets in the grill. I just have to remember to prime before starting....

 

[Switz]

If pellets remain in the auger tube from a cook and there is high humidify, the pellors cod absorb the mousture, swell and lock the auger. So I emptied the auger tube and you get about a cup of pellets out of the auger tube.

i just have to remember to pre-charge the auger before starting the ignition sequence.

 

[RemE]

If pellets remain in the auger tube from a cook and there is high humidify, the pellors cod absorb the mousture, swell and lock the auger. So I emptied the auger tube and you get about a cup of pellets out of the auger tube.

i just have to remember to pre-charge the auger before starting the ignition sequence.

I see the logic, but have never purged an auger in 8+ years of using Traegers. Maybe others have issues in high humidity areas?